Improvement in railroad-car couplings



J. w. RICE.

Car Coupling. No. 19,794.

Patented Mar. 30, 1858.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD-CAR COUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 19,794, dated March 30, 1858.

- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, JOHN W. RICE, of Springfield, in the county of Hampden, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oar-Couplings for Railroad-Oars; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of myinvention consists in providing a hook-link with notches I I and Z on 4 the under side, and a fulcrum-drop that serves a double purposeviz., first, to hold the hooklink 0 at any desired height; second, to hold the hook-link down, to keep it from working out when the cars are in motion, by means of the notches I I and Oa series of notches II, &c. The drawings show but two. It may be necessary to use more to hold the hooklink at the desired height, and the notch Zto hold the hook-link down, from working out when the cars are in motion, and at the same time leaving sufficient play to accommodate any height of cars in general use. Oars loaded, attached to those unloaded, give different height to the couplings; also of passing an iron rod through the fulcrum-drop to the outer side of the car with a handle h on each end and making the rod fast in the drop, by which means the hook-link can quickly be raised to any desired height without going between the cars, as is the case with the ordinary link in general use, which is a dangerous operation, as many a man can testify who has been made a cripple for life by the use of the ordinary link for shackling cars together. On passenger and platform cars it would be more convenient to use a chain j to raise the hook-link.

To enable others skilled in the art to make, construct, and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe the construction in detail.

Figure 1 is a view of the ends of two cars shackled together by means of my improved coupling, and Fig. 2 shows a side view of the hook-link O and fulcrum-drop D when the cars are fastened together. Fig. 3 shows a side view of the hook-link G resting on the fulcrum-drop D against the notches I on the under side of the hook-link C, raised so as not to shackle when the cars come together. Drop the hook one notch lower. It is then in the right position to shackle or fasten the cars together. v

A A represent the platform of the cars. (I will here sayit is not my purpose to very fully describe a railroad-car, as that is not necessary, but simply to show the application which will apply in any of the ordinary forms and constructions of my improved coupling.)

B B are circles describing the positions of the wheels; 0 G, the hook-link; D D, the fulcrum-drop at Fig. 2 showing the position of the link when the cars are hackled together and how the drop D holds the link down by means of the notch Z on the under side of the link 0, and Z and I I notches on under side of the link C.

c is the hole that plays on the arbor that holds the link in its position. d is the hole in the fulcrum-drop through which the rod 9 passes and to which the fulcrum-drop is fastened, which raises the drop by means of the handle h or chain j, h, the handle; g, the rod; j, the chain; 70, the standard for the chain, and e the end of the rod that raises the drop by means of the chain.

Having thus fully described the'nature and,

construction of my invention, I donot claim the hook-link, as that has been used before, but was found defective, as the hook-link would work out when the cars were in motion, and hence was abandoned as dangerous and unsafe.

What I do claim is The fulcrum-drop D, and notchesl and it on the under side of the hook-link O, and the rod 9, when used in combination with each other,

for the purposes substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto set my hand on this 5th day of March, in the yearof our Lord 1858.

JOHN w; RICE.

WVitnesses:

E. F. WARRIsEN, O. A. SEAMANS. 

